At First Sight
by Amoralyn
Summary: Reader x Rakuzan. Part of the ? Series. An ? AU. Just when you've lost everything, when all hope seems gone, the tides of fate change your course. An injured man needs your aid, and your decision to help him will change your life forever. However, you're not out of the fire just yet…everyone has a hidden face, and nothing is as it seems. It all starts with one question.
1. Chapter 1

_What is it that you desire most?_

 _Your mother smiling. A book held tightly in your small hand as you read every word, completely enraptured. Your mother telling you how to properly read all the words, ever patient when you make mistakes. The tears on your face already dry. You laughing in complete ease. Acceptance. Peace._

 _Love._

You walk on the tattered side road leading out of your village in silence, trudging forward slowly as the small bag on your back bounces against you. The wind whistles in your ears, but you can barely hear it. You feel like your head is heavy with thoughts, burdened by so many worries and fears you couldn't begin to count them all, while at the same time it feels empty, like you couldn't find a single thought if you wanted to.

You want to look back, but you know it would only cause you more pain.

You can only continue on, and hope you find a brighter future than the past you're leaving behind.

You step into the forest, the sound of leaves rustling as you continue walking along the dirt path. You're about to round the corner when you hear something strange. You pause, looking around, and stay still until you hear the angry grunt of pain once more. Cautiously, you step forward, walking down a smaller path which branches off the one you were on.

Your eyes fall on him almost immediately.

A man, long, black hair framing his dirty, sweat-stained face, which still doesn't hide his undeniable beauty. He's tall, even for a man, with long limbs, and his bare arms show obvious muscle, although he seems to have a thin frame. On his side, you can see his shirt is ripped—as well as the skin underneath. Blood pours out furiously, staining the ground a muddy red. His eyes, squeezed shut at first, open and glance down at the wound.

His eyes are blue, and for a moment you feel like you're staring into a deep, tropical sea. You let out a breath you didn't even realise you were holding.

Then his eyes narrow, the rage and pain in them obvious as they fix on the blood escaping him, and you're quickly brought back to reality.

Not even giving it a second thought, you rush forward, getting to your knees beside him.

"Are you—" You stop yourself from automatically asking if he was okay, as it so very obvious he _wasn't,_ and change your question. "Please, may I help you!?"

Blue eyes widen in shock as they stare up at you, pale lips opening slightly, moving as if to speak even as no sound comes out of them.

"Please let me help." You plead. You don't wait for an answer this time, and start rooting through your bag for something to press against his wound and stem the bleeding. A small piece of cloth, one of the few things you have left because it hadn't been worth enough to sell. You take it out and move it towards his wound, when a large hand grasps yours, long fingers gently but firmly holding you.

"That is unnecessary." He says smoothly, giving you a confused, but kind look. "Please, do not trouble yourself."

"But—"

"I will be fine."

You press your lips together tightly, looking down at his wound before your gaze moves back to his face. He tilts his head, watching you curiously. You open your mouth to protest, begging him to throw away whatever is stopping him from accepting your help, when a loud crash sounds from behind you.

You turn to see a large group of men stumble into the clearing from the forest and brush they just tore through.

"There he is!" The leader cries out. He's a huge man, covered in hair and dirt and blood. His right eye is closed, swollen shut from a large slash cut deep into his flesh. Red flows down his face and over the furious sneer he levels at you.

"Thought you could get away, eh?" The man growls, taking another step forward. The sword gripped in his hand is stained with blood as well, and you have a strong feeling that was the weapon that injured the man before you.

"You won't escape a second time." The leader states, this time the gang behind him following suit as he steps forward once more.

"Ahh…what a bother." The man beside you sighs dramatically, and you turn to him in surprise. He looks bored, maybe mildly annoyed, by the arrival of men who were obviously hear to finish killing him. It was like he didn't care…

Unless—he had already given up hope?!

The thought made your heart feel heavy, as you felt a strong empathy with him. Once again, you give no thought before you act, and stand up. You turn to face the men, spreading out your arms in a protective gesture as you glare at them, standing directly between the group and the man lying below you.

"This man is injured! You cannot hurt him." You say sternly. "To attack an unarmed and wounded man is—is dishonourable!"

There's a long silence as the men before you stare back at you in disbelief. You can even feel the eyes of the very man you're defending staring at your back.

Then, the men laugh, holding their stomachs as they double over in their mirth. You blink, your eyes narrowing in fury at their obvious disrespect, when you hear a voice behind you.

"That's a bit…naïve." The man says, and you can hear him chuckling. You turn your head over your shoulder, staring at him in bewilderment. He's smiling gently, although he gives you an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, but…really?" He snorts, shaking his head.

You glare at him, more than a little annoyed and surprised he's _making fun_ of the person protecting him, before you turn back to the men, who've finally calmed down.

That's when the air changes completely.

The men look at you with mocking, hungry eyes. Those not already wielding swords unsheathe theirs, snickering darkly.

The man behind you speaks up suddenly, his voice swiftly taking a serious tone.

"…This has been nice, but you should go now."


	2. Chapter 2

"I can't leave you alone! You'll _die_!" You cry out, turning back to him again. He opens his mouth to respond, but when his eyes meet yours, he suddenly goes silent.

You turn back again, holding your arms out wider.

"Leave. Now." You say to the group of men, your eyes narrowing sharply. "I will not let you fight someone who cannot fight back."

"And you're going to stop us then?" The leader asks, laughing mockingly again. "With what? An 'inspirational' speech?"

"Maybe she's gonna preach to us o'r money verse honor." Another snorts.

The entire band guffaws obnoxiously, but you stand firm. You make it clear you have no intention of running away.

However, you can feel your arms trembling as the terrifying truth of their words hits you. You have no weapons, and even if you did you had no experience in fighting. It looked like in terms of defending against these brutes, you weren't at a much better position than the man on the ground behind you.

But you couldn't just leave him to die here. To die in horrible pain and completely alone but for those who would slaughter a defenseless man. Even if you did not know him, you know you could not leave him to such a horrific fate.

"I won't back down." You state, although it's more for the man behind you than the group before you. "I won't leave."

 _I won't abandon you_.

"Ah…well, that's…" The injured man starts, only to pause suddenly. "Oh!"

You don't bother to look back, because at the moment something strange is happening with the bandits. Your words seemed to have had an effect on them after all, and now they look amongst each other warily. Slowly, they step back, before they suddenly take off, running back into the forest.

You let out a long sigh of relief, holding a hand over your rapidly beating heart. You're a little surprised they gave up so quickly, but clearly your determination to stay had made them reconsider. Swiftly, you spin around and get back on your knees beside the injured man with the eyes of the sea.

"They're gone. You can relax now." You give him a warm smile, completely unable to hide your relief.

"That's..." The man is still staring at you with an odd expression, as if he has no idea what to say. "…true…" He finally finishes, his eyes darting towards the spot the villains had just vacated.

"I don't have a lot, but it should be enough to make you feel better." You say, grabbing the small scrap of bread and small skin of water you have in your bag. You hold it out to him, but he tilts his head away, preventing you from feeding it to him.

"Is that…all you have?" He asks quietly, giving you that strange look again.

"I…Yes." You look down, biting your lip slightly. "I wish I had more to give you, but—"

"Then if you give me that, you'll have nothing." He says sternly. "What are you thinking?"

"Take it! You need it more than I do!" You reply, your voice going higher as you can't help but get upset.

"Where were you even going with such little food and water?" He asks firmly.

You open your eyes wide in surprise, and then look down at the meager provisions in your hand. You hesitate, not sure how to answer, when you're once again interrupted by someone crashing through the forest behind you. You jump to your feet once again, spinning around to see who's intruding now.

Well, at least this time, it's only two men.

Yet…although much cleaner and wielding no weapons you could see, these two men send a deep chill up your spine, and worry you far more than that group of bandits.

"Get back!" You cry out, holding your arms out again.

There's a long pause, before the two men glance between each other.

"…Is she going to attack us with bread?" The shorter man asks, looking as if he's desperately trying to hold back a grin.

"Not even a whole loaf." The other one snorts.

They step forward, their eyes narrowing, and you feel your stomach sink.

"Run!" You whisper from the corner of your mouth. Something told you that fighting these men would be a very, very bad idea. You get no response, and so turn your head over your shoulder. "I'll distract them!"

You see the man on the ground staring at you as if you have two heads. He blinks, and puts a hand over his mouth as he chuckles.

"It's fine." He smiles. "They're here to help, as…difficult to believe that may be."

You blink in surprise, and then turn back to the men before you, who are giving you the same weird look as the man beneath you.

"Hey hey, Reo-nee! We thought you were in trouble!" The man on the right, who had blonde hair and a wide smile, laughs. As his eyes look at you closely, you swear they almost glitter.

"Yeah, and here we find you being taken care of by some cute nurse!" The other man, the biggest out of all of them, with huge, rippling muscles flexing under his dark skin, starts laughing deeply as well, holding his stomach.

"I—I'm so sorry!" You cry out, immediately bowing in apology. "He—He was attacked by bandits, and I thought you were…I'm so sorry! Please, you need to help him, he's gravely injured!"

"…Cuuuute~" The blond man purrs, stepping towards you, eyes widening as examine you.

"E—Excuse me?!" You cry out, pulling your head back slightly in surprise.

"He's talking about you, not my injury." Reo intones, sighing loudly.

"Glad we didn't have to fight her, eh Hayama?" The muscular man says, as the two start walking towards you. Hayama wastes no time in looking you over, bending so he could look at you as closely as possible.

"You were the only one looking for a fight, Nebuya!" Hayama replies, still ogling you. You're not sure quite how to respond, so you turn towards Reo.

"How are you feeling?" You ask, holding out the bread and water again. "Um, Reo-nee was it?"

Hayama and Nebuya laugh, while Reo looks less than amused.

"Mibuchi is fine, thank you." He says, giving you a forced smile.

"Ah, Mibuchi!" You say, feeling your cheeks burn. "I'm—I'm sorry…"

"Hey Reo-nee, stand up already!" Hayama says, grabbing the piece of bread from your hand and popping it into his mouth. He grimaces slightly at the poor taste, but swallows down.

"He can't stand, he's been—" You start, only to be interrupted by Mibuchi grasping your shoulder to push himself to his feet. Just as you're staring at him in disbelief, he smacks the blonde man on the back of the head.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?!" Hayama cries out angrily, rubbing his head.

"That was her only food!" Mibuchi says angrily.

"Ah! Sorry!" Hayama presses his hands together before him, closing one eye as he looks back at you. "I'll get you some new bread, okay? Better too! That stuff was _awful_."

"That's…um…how are you standing?" You ask, staring at Mibuchi in bewilderment. You look down at his wound, and feel your breath leave you.

His grave, life threatening wound has already mostly healed.


	3. Chapter 3

"That it? Geez Mibuchi, you're not eating nearly enough if that's all you can heal." Nebuya snorts.

"Well, my meal was…interrupted." Mibuchi sighs. He glances down at you, and you stare back at him in confusion.

How would you interrupt his meal? He didn't have any food, and wouldn't eat when you offered him.

"Your fault for getting injured so close to the human village." Nebuya replies. You ignore Hayama, who's sniffing your shoulder now, and look at them, even more confused.

"My apologies. Next time I'll make sure to be ambushed closer to home." Mibuchi rolls his eyes, his lips pressed together tightly.

"Um…'human' village?" You ask.

There's a heavy pause, as the men look amongst each other. Just as Mibuchi opens his mouth, he stops, and his eyes focus in on the forest.

"Not again." He murmurs angrily under his breath. You can see that something has grabbed the attention of all three men, and you don't realise why until, for the third time, someone comes crashing through from outside the forest.

Worse, it's the bandits again.

Even worse than worse…they clearly brought along reinforcements. Their numbers have more than doubled.

You glare at them furiously, and raise your hands to fight, but Hayama and Nebuya step in front of you. Just as you're about to ask what they're doing, Mibuchi squeezes your shoulder gently.

"You've done more than enough." He says sweetly. "But please, let us take care of the rest. Hide in the bushes."

You look down at his wound again, and then back up to his beautiful eyes. You shake your head, and open your mouth to protest, but he presses a finger over your lips.

"And do not look, no matter what happens. Do you understand?" He whispers, giving you a warm smile.

You want to crumble at that smile, but you hesitate. Before you can protest any further Mibuchi gently pushes you to the bushes.

"Don't worry, these guys are nothing!" Hayama says, practically vibrating with excitement. Actually…not practically, he really does appear to be vibrating…

"Shit, I'm hungry." Nebuya growls, and as Mibuchi deftly ushers you into the bushes, you can hear the sound of ripping fabric from his clothes. Just what the hell is—

"Remember, no peeking!" Mibuchi says sweetly, closing the bushes around you so you can no longer see anything.

Your brow furrows, obviously displeased with being hidden away, but…well, you can't deny that those two men are probably better equipped to fight and protect Mibuchi than you are.

But why couldn't you look? You could still—

"Monsters." You hear the leader again, snarling. "You won't escape this time."

"And we'll take that girl too." Another man chuckles darkly. "She'll be good for—"

"I'm sorry, I can't allow you to talk about a lady like that." Mibuchi hums sweetly, his voice thick with malice that seems to drip from his lips like a poison. "Especially not one such as her."

"How dare you—" The leader starts, only to be interrupted.

"Can we cut the talking? It's boring! I've been itching for a good fight!" Hayama yells. "And you guys will have to do!"

"Yeah, come on. Did we come here to shoot the shit or fight?" Nebuya growls.

You hear something…odd. Your head is swimming with confusion, and you don't understand. It's like your head is all scrambled…

"Grah! Demons!" The leader cries. "Attack, now!"

After that, there's no more talking. Only screaming.

You hear flesh ripping, men screaming, the occasional sound of sword clanging against something hard and breaking.

You understand now why Mibuchi didn't want you to look. You know that those screams aren't coming from the men on your side.

Finally, the sounds stop. It's quiet for a few moments, and then you hear Mibuchi's voice again.

"Please stay put. We still need to clean up." He says softly.

You give a small whimper, and continue to sit among the bushes. You have a feeling that you really, really don't want to look until they're done cleaning up.

"She makes cute noises too~" Hayama laughs. You hear a ripping noise, and his playful tone changes to an annoyed one. "What's with this armor?! Crabs are easier to—"

You hear someone shush him loudly, most likely Mibuchi, since you can hear deep grunts which sound to be from Nebuya farther away.

It seems to take forever before the bushes finally part, and you see Hayama's smiling face above you.

"Hey cutie! You can come out no—"

"Oi! I was gonna get her!" Nebuya cries out, his large hand pushing Hayama's face out of the way as his now appears before you.

"Yeah, we're finished here, so—"

"I've got this! Go away, musclehead!" Hayama cries, shoving himself back against Nebuya. They argue, pushing against each other, before Mibuchi moves past them, leans down, and grabs you by the waist, easily lifting you up and out of the bushes and placing you gently on the ground of the clearing.

"Forgive them." Mibuchi says, sighing tiredly.

"Please, think nothing of it." You laugh lightly, nervously. You really have no idea what else to say, so you had decided to rely on meaningless pleasentries. You turn to the side, trying to be subtle, but there's no hiding the shock from your face.

There are no bodies, only a large pile of armor.

Where are the bodies?

Because you know the bandits couldn't have escaped.

The ground is absolutely soaked with blood.

"Sorry…unfortunately, that was the one aspect we couldn't get rid of." Mibuchi says, holding his head in his right hand as he looks down at you apologetically.

"You should have seen it before we—" Hayama starts, only to be quieted by Mibuchi's harsh glare.

There's an awkward pause, and you take the time to glance down and examine Mibuchi's wound. To your surprise, it's complete gone. The blood has left a mark from where it dried, but otherwise there was no trace.

"I'm glad everyone is okay." You say softly, looking up at the three strange men. You had decided not to question them anymore. To be honest, you weren't sure if you could handle the answers.

They look down at you, and smile in response.

"She's nice too." Hayama says, grinning as he throws his arm over your shoulders. His other arm wraps around your waist, holding you tightly against him and making your face flush.

Wait. That wasn't right. You could see his other hand, and it was twiddling its fingers at you flirtatiously.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hayama!" Mibuchi practically snarls as he rips the blonde man away from you. You stumble slightly, and when you turn to them, Mibuchi is glaring furiously at Hayama, who smiles and shrugs his shoulders innocently, raising his hands in an apologetic gesture. His _two_ hands.

Nebuya rolls his eyes, and gently claps you on the shoulder.

"You're pretty brave, sweetheart." He grins.

You flush, feeling your heart beat faster. You're not quite sure what that look in his eye is, but it makes you feel extremely flustered.

"We are…" Mibuchi steps forward, putting his hand on your other shoulder. "… _very_ grateful for all your help."

You can't help but want to say that you didn't really help, but the way they're looking at you feels pretty nice, so you stay silent for the moment (not to mention you're not completely sure you could say anything even if you wanted to, since you're still trying to process what you just saw).

"We want to—" Hayama starts.

" **I** would like to offer you something in reward." Mibuchi says, smiling kindly as he smoothly interrupts Hayama, whose brow furrows in annoyance. "Anything, anything you want. If it's in my power to give to you, I will."

You blink in surprise, and then quickly shake your head.

"Thank you, but I can't accept anything. I was just helping someone who was injured." You reply firmly.

Mibuchi gives you a forced smile.

"You're not going to bait me into giving you more. I've already promised to give you anything in my power to give you." He says quietly. "Jewelry? Gold?"

"No, I—"

"Reo-nee, we're late as it is." Hayama pouts, tugging on his friend's sleeve. "He's gonna be mad…"

Mibuchi sighs, running a hand through his thick black hair.

"I'm sorry, but we don't have time for this. I'm going to need to read your desires." He murmurs, placing his hands on each side of your head.

"W—What?!" You ask, staring at him in confusion.

"My apologies." He hums, eyes narrowing, as he presses his forehead against yours.

Suddenly, your world goes black. You can't see anything, and there's a pressure in your head, a buzzing. It's uncomfortable, and you squirm.

The voice is deep and warm, like honey.

Mibuchi's voice.

What is it doing in your head?!

 _The sooner you answer my question, the sooner I will leave._

What—what is happening?

 _So, here is all I ask:_

 ** _What do you desire most?_**

You don't think. The answer comes immediately.

 _To be wanted. To be loved._ _ **A home**_.

You can feel yourself crying. The voice inside your head is silent, and then coos comfortingly.

 _This will be…very unpleasant, but I need to see more. I need to see the story behind your desires. I promise, I won't stay any longer than I must…_

You feel your heart beat faster, and your throat goes dry.

You know this story, and you don't particularly like how it goes.

—

It starts out with a woman. She's poor, but kind and warm. She's intelligent, but makes mistakes. One big mistake in particular.

She has an affair with a married noble. It goes on for a long time, much too long. Everyone knows, but no one says a word.

Then the woman conceives a child, and is abandoned by the man, left to raise her daughter alone. Yet even though she had no one else, she still raised her daughter with love and care and gentleness.

But as an adulteress, neither the woman, nor her daughter, who was born from her sin, were ever treated with kindness by those around them.

They were all human, but this woman and her daughter were treated as garbage, even as the noble who fathered the child lived in luxury and peace with the family he had betrayed, ignoring the family he had abandoned.

The other nobles weren't much better. They treated the lesser class as lower than dirt, and thought themselves untouchable as they treated their workers however they liked.

One day, they refused to pay a large band of mercenaries for their services in attacking another city. The mercenaries teamed up with the other city, and they began to attack.

The nobles were well guarded, but the mercenaries knew that the nobles were heavily dependent on the working class.

So that's who they went after.

The poor suffered from the actions of the nobles even to their death.

The woman hid her daughter in a small cellar when they came.

The daughter survived. The woman did not.

No one cared, certainly not the girl's father. They simply demanded she pay her taxes.

The girl tried, but no one would hire her. No one was interested in employing the adulteress's daughter.

So she sold all she had that was worth anything to pay the monthly taxes, which continued to rise.

Until one day. She wasn't able to pay them on the day they were due, and the next day she was banished from the city.

The daughter of the woman had lost everything and everyone she held dear. No family, no home.

The only one who ever loved her was gone.

She had nothing.

—

When the blackness goes away, and you can see Mibuchi's face again, it's blurred from the tears pouring down your face like a river. You can hear your choked sobs now, and it reinforced the painful heaviness in your heart.

There was a reason you did not want to see that story, to relive those painful memories. Not to mention your head was killing you, your skull throbbing in horrible pain from having him root around your head like that.

Your knees collapse as Mibuchi lets your head go, and his arms wrap around you and hold you tightly to his chest, letting you cry into the thick fabric of his shirt.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He coos comfortingly. "You've gone through so much, you poor thing…"

"Reo-nee, what did you do?!"

"Is she okay?!"

Hayama and Nebuya's voices, obviously concerned, sound from behind you. You feel someone gently stroke your hair, while another squeezes your shoulder comfortingly.

"It's fine. She just needs some time to recover." Mibuchi murmurs, stroking your hair. Your tears gradually ebb, the sound of his voice making your heart feel lighter.

"We're taking her home." Mibuchi says suddenly, picking you up so he now holds you princess style in his arms.

"Wahhh?! Really?!" Hayama's eyes open wide in excitement. He bounces up and down, staring at you.

"Akashi gonna be okay with this?" Nebuya asks, clearly surprised.

"I thought we couldn't have women living in the castle?" Hayama asks tilting his head as he leans over you.

"That's only for brothel workers, Hayama." Mibuchi replies. "She's not going to be doing that."

"So what is she gonna do?" Nebuya tilts his head to the side, looking bewildered. "Just sit in her room all day and look pretty?"

"Don't be absurd." Mibuchi sighs, shaking his head. He continues, speaking affectionately as he holds you tighter against his chest.

"She'll be a pet."

It's hard to tell which of the three of you are most confused.


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note: And the final part! I hope you guys enjoyed the story :3 I'll be posting more detailed profiles of the guys soon as well, so look out for that! You can also now find this tagged under the series name, Rakuzan's Pet. Enjoy!_  
 _—_

"That way, you'll always have a home with us." Mibuchi smiles, looking down at you. "You'll never have to worry about food, money, or shelter ever again. You'll always be loved and taken very good care of. I think it's a fitting repayment for protecting me from those men."

"Protecting you? But Reo—" Hayama starts, only for Mibuchi to smoothly start talking over him.

"Will you agree?" He asks you, his voice warm and gentle.

You look up at him unsurely. You have so many questions, and you know you should think on it more, but you answer before your thoughts can catch up.

"Yes."

There are so many questions you have yet to ask, but you still agree. The word leaves your lips, and you make no effort to refute it.

After all, the instant the words leave your lips, it feels like an enormous weight has been lifted off of you. It almost feels like you're breathing properly for the first time months.

"And there we have it." Mibuchi smiles kindly. "From today onward, you're to be the pet of Rakuzan."

…Rakuzan? You've heard that name before…but it was…

…A legend…

"What is your name then, pet?" He asks. Hayama and Nebuya watch you closely, both obviously excited and eager to hear your name as well.

You look away, thinking carefully, and take a few moments before you look back to them.

"…It doesn't matter. My name belongs to my old life." You say quietly. "I…don't want to hold on to that life anymore, the memories are too painful."

There's a long silence as Nebuya and Hayama stare at you in concern, while Mibuchi just looks greatly saddened.

"I want a new name, for my new life." You pause, and think it over. "Pet is as fine a name as any, isn't it?"

Mibuchi frowns.

"You need a prettier name than 'Pet'." Mibuchi sighs exasperatedly.

He looks down at you closely, and then smiles warmly again.

"You know…you remind me of the flowers that grow outside my window. You're beautiful, but in a subtle way." He muses. He ignores Hayama's loud whispers of 'What does that even mean?' to Nebuya, and continues, staring solely at you. "You're…as pretty as their petals."

You blink in surprise, wondering where he was going with this, before it clicks.

"Petal's a real pretty name!" Hayama beams.

"Suits you." Nebuya grunts in agreement, patting your shoulder.

"Petal…" You touched your lips lightly (only vaguely hearing the small sound that Hayama makes at the action) as you whisper the name. It is a beautiful name, and the thought of it being yours does make butterflies dance happily in your stomach.

A new name. A new life.

"She likes it too." Mibuchi laughs. "So, it's done. Let's return home."

"Mibuchi, is Akashi really going to be okay with this? Bringing home a…you know, a human?" Nebuya asks, still unsure. "She's cute, but that isn't gonna sway him."

"She's no threat! She's not like other humans. Right, Petal?" Hayama asks excitedly, playing with strands of your hair.

"Not like…what?" You ask, obviously confused. You look between the three of them, and can almost feel the heaviness of the silence. They all glance between each other, before Mibuchi finally speaks up.

"Ah…that's right. If you are to be living with us, we'll need to show you our true selves." Mibuchi exhales loudly, shaking his head. He frowns, looking displeased, but resigned. "It won't do to surprise you with it later."

He looks very unhappy to have to do this, although Hayama looks extremely excited, and Nebuya is giving you a cocky grin, flexing his muscles as he crosses his arms over his powerful chest.

"Especially since Hayama can barely keep himself in human form." Nebuya snorts. Hayama pouts in return, but doesn't deny it. He looks far more interested in you, his eyes wide as he stares at you.

"Me first!" Hayama cries out.

"Might as well, he's already half way there." Nebuya grunts. Mibuchi runs a hand through his hair, but finally nods. Hayama laughs, clapping his hands together exuberantly.

"Close your eyes, Petal!" Hayama grins, before he covers your eyes with his hands himself. You feel Mibuchi gently lower you, and then someone else takes you from him. You're confused, since the hands are two small to be that of Nebuya's.

"Okay! Open your eyes!" Hayama says excitedly.

"You've covering them dumbass, remember?" Nebuya replies.

"Whoops! You're right! Alright…then here we go!" And at that, Hayama pulls his hands back, and places them under your shoulders.

That's when you realise _he's_ the one holding you. There are two hands on your lower half, one at your back and the other under your knees. And two supporting your shoulders.

They all belong to Hayama.

Who's _entire body_ is now a bright yellow, and looks like his very skin is static.

He grins, showing off vicious, long teeth. His eyes are a bright gold, and watch you closely, studying your reaction.

"Cool, right? This is my real form." Hayama purrs happily.

You hear the flapping of wings behind you.

"All monsters have a real form, and one we use in the human world." Mibuchi explains. When you turn to look at him, you see wings. Feathers. Beautiful ivory feathers.

Deep, beautiful blue eyes.

"Yeah. Not all of us are as pretty as Mibuchi though." You hear a low snort from somewhere high above you, and you crane your neck upward to see Nebuya, who steps slightly to the side to block the sun from your eyes. He's massive, even more so than before. He looks like he's made of rock, and there are huge black spikes coming out of his body.

"W—Wha…?" You feel your head spinning in confusion, in complete disbelief at what you're seeing. Your mind is struggling to comprehend all of this, and you can't seem to grasp everything that's happening. It causes even more chaos in your mind than when Mibuchi looked into your mind.

"Oh my. That village must not see any monsters." Mibuchi says softly, tilting his head as he looks down at you with a gentle smile on his face. His face goes blurry, as you feel yourself slipping out of consciousness. Your mind must have decided this was too much for you to deal with at the moment.

"When you wake up, we'll try this again, yes?" He laughs kindly. You barely manage to hang on long enough to catch his last words.

"In your new home…"

—

You remember very little of the trip. You slept, certainly, for most of it. You were blindfolded, and all you could feel was wind whistling at your skin as they carried you.

The trip itself must not have been long, since you had not been traveling even a day when Hayama announced you were at the borders of Rakuzan. You thought that meant the journey was over, but apparently not. You were put down onto something soft, probably a bed, where you slept some more. After that was what seemed like another day of travel. You were awake more often for that, but after everything, you couldn't bring yourself to stay asleep too long. You heard Nebuya say "give her to me, you go warn Akashi" and Hayama arguing, before you fell into slumber again.

Then by the time you woke up, Mibuchi was pulling off your blindfold, and you learned you were standing in the middle of a huge room, being held in Hayama's arms. Two arms, this time. When you looked up at him, you could see a familiar face. In fact when you looked around, you could see all of them there.

The boys look down at you, smiling and grinning happily.

"Welcome home, Petal."


End file.
